Fifth-grader to be principal at Holy Family
BY KURT BACKSCHEIDER | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER PRICE HILL

Holy Family School students are going to wish Holden Kelley could be their principal more often.

When the 11-year-old takes his position of power in the main office for a day in April his fellow students will have an out-of-uniform day, spend extra time at recess and be dismissed with no homework.

The fifth-grader earned the chance to be principal for a day by becoming the first student in Holy Family School history to reach 1,000 points in the Accelerated Reader program.

"I was very excited," Kelley said. "I reached the 1,000-point club on Friday, March 2."

At a school assembly where his groundbreaking accomplishment was recognized, he also received a $25 gift card to a local bookstore and the school bought his favorite book, "Eragon," and donated it to the school library in his honor, he said.

He said his school has used the Accelerated Reader program for several years. The program encourages students to practice reading by making reading fun.

To earn points students read a book on the Accelerated Reader list and then take a test on the computer. If they score 100 percent on the test they receive a certain number of points based on the difficulty of the book, Kelley said.

"You earn half a point for smaller books and longer books can be worth up to 72 points," he said.

The longest book he's ever read is an 870-page Harry Potter novel, which earned him about 40 points, he said.

Deron Kelley, Holden's father, said the prize to be principal for a day has always been on the table, but no one has ever come close. Holden's older brother, Cameron, a seventh-grader, is the next closest with 900 points.

"I often teased their principal, Sister Brenda (Busch), about the principal for a day prize and asked her, 'What are you going to do when Holden reaches 1,000 points? because he's going to do it," Deron Kelley said.

He said when they announced Holden achieved the 1,000 point mark and would be principal for a day the student body went ballistic cheering for him.

"It was fun to see everybody so happy for him," he said.

"Then it was interesting to watch as the other students started getting nearer and nearer to him, offering their ideas on what he should do when he's principal."

He said Holden is normally very modest about his accomplishments, whether they are academic or athletic, but at the assembly he finally let himself go for once.

"He is usually very stoic, but that day he just beamed," the proud father said.

Holden said his next goal is to reach 1,500 points.

Throughout the years he estimates he's read 500 books, at the very minimum. His favorites are science fiction, historical fiction and novels with medieval themes.

"I couldn't have reached the 1,000 point club without the help of my teachers and parents," Holden said, again being modest.

Sister Brenda might want to prepare herself for more days out of the office. In addition to Cameron and Holden, Deron and Kim Kelley have three other sons at Holy Family who love to read as well.

kbackscheider@communitypress.com